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Brendan Cullen
I am a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon. My research focuses on predicting real-world health behaviors and health outcomes in an effort to advance a precision medicine framework for behavioral health. As an aspiring data scientist, my goal is to develop open-source statistical software to support health and wellness.
Education
PhD Student, Psychology
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR
2022 - 2017
- My research takes a translational (neuro)science approach toward predictive modeling of self-regulation processes and health-risking behaviors within a precision medicine framework.
MS, Psychology
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR
2019 - 2017
- Thesis: Comparing cognitive and affective predictors of craving
BA, Neuroscience
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT
2015 - 2011
- Thesis: Neurophysiological correlates of self-referential activity in meditators and non-meditators
Certification
RStudio Certified Instructor
RStudio, PBC
N/A
2020
- I am an RStudio Certified Instructor in the tidyverse (see certificate).
Honors & Awards
Graduate Education Committee Research Award
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon
N/A
2020
Pilot & Training Core Travel Award [more info]
Center on Parenting and Opioids, University of Oregon
N/A
2020
Graduate Education Committee Travel Award
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon
N/A
2019
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies Scholarship [more info]
Mind and Life Institute
N/A
2016
BA in Neuroscience with Highest Honors, Summa Cum Laude
Middlebury College
N/A
2015
Dean’s Honor List (8 semesters)
Middlebury College
N/A
2015 - 2011
Rosalin Lieberman-Reiss Memorial Award
Department of Psychology, Middlebury College
N/A
2015
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies Scholarship [more info]
Mind and Life Institute
N/A
2014
Academic Conference Travel Fund Award
Middlebury College
N/A
2014
Senior Research Project Supplement
Middlebury College
N/A
2014
Bicentennial Fund for Research Partnerships in the Sciences Fellowship
Middlebury College
N/A
2014
Fred M. Roddy Research Fellowship in Biomedical Science
Middlebury College
N/A
2013
Professional Research Experience
Graduate Employee
Social and Affective Neuroscience Lab
University of Oregon
2018 - 2017
- Selected self-report measures and co-designed interventions for NCI-funded RCT comparing behavioral response and cognitive reappraisal interventions for devaluing unhealthy food
- Created automated workflow for daily backup of fMRI data via a high performance computing cluster
Research Assistant
Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab
Brown University
2017 - 2015
- Cleaned and scored 20+ self-report measures from a 3-armed RCT comparing focused awareness meditation, open-monitoring meditation, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on clinical efficacy for depression
- Led a project investigating the effects of meditation training on EEG and behavioral measures of self-referential processing
Research Assistant
Embodied Neuroscience Lab
Brown University
2017 - 2015
- Collected EEG data for pilot RCT testing a neuromuscular-immune model of chronic fatigue in female cancer survivors
- Designed custom software in MATLAB to implement novel EEG/EMG paradigm for measuring neural correlates of tactile acuity and precision grip strength
Recruitment Specialist
Women’s Medicine Collaborative,
Miriam Hospital
Providence, RI
2016
- Developed strategies to recruit specialized patient populations for randomized controlled trials, including female cancer survivors and patients with asthma
Research Assistant
Social Psychology of Meditation Lab
Middlebury College
2015 - 2014
- Led a study on relationship between mindfulness, hormones, empathy, and prosocial behavior
- Recruited and interviewed participants, administered surveys and cognitive tests, and analyzed salivary cortisol and testosterone assays
Research Assistant
Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Lab
Middlebury College
2014 - 2013
- Collected animal behavior data on the dose-dependent effects of testosterone replacement on spatial memory
- Performed behavioral testing, prepared brain samples, collected microscopy data and assisted with manuscript preparation
Teaching Experience (Courses)
I believe that learning open-source data science tools can empower us to be better scientists and critical thinkers. During my third year of graduate school, I served as a teaching assistant and lab instructor for both undergraduate and graduate-level statistics courses, for which I spent a significant amount of time creating educational resources about analyzing data in R and jamovi.
Lab Instructor
PSY 302: Statistical Methods in Psychology
University of Oregon
2020
- Taught online lab sections for introductory undergraduate statistics course (~200 students total) using the open-source statistical software jamovi. (Spring 2020)
Lab Instructor
University of Oregon
2020
- Designed and taught lab sections on Correlations, Univariate Regression and the General Linear Model, Regression with Categorical Predictors, Interactions, and Factorial ANOVA. (Winter 2020)
Lab Instructor
University of Oregon
2019
- Designed and taught lab sections on R Basics and Descriptive Statistics, Matrix Algebra, Data Transformation with dplyr, Pre-registration, and Paired samples t-tests. (Fall 2019)
Teaching Assistant
PSYC 301: Physiological Psychology
Middlebury College
2015
- Assisted with lab and discussion sections, held exam review sessions, prepared experimental equipment, and conducted animal testing for student projects
Workshops Taught
UO Psych R Bootcamp
Department of Psychology
University of Oregon
2020
- 3-day introductory bootcamp covering basics of R, R Markdown and transforming and visualizing data with the tidyverse. ~45 attendees including current and incoming grad students, undergrads, research staff and tenure-track faculty.
Introduction to Git and Github
Psychology First Year Research Seminar
University of Oregon
2020
- Introductory workshop for ~20 first-year psychology PhD and Master’s students on basics of using Git and Github for version control
Intermediate Git and Github
UO Data Science Club
University of Oregon
2019
- Intermediate Git/Github workshop for University of Oregon’s Data Science Club, including discussion of merge conflicts, branching, pull requests, and best practices for collaborative Github projects
Peer-reviewed Publications
My peer-reviewed scientific publications are varied in topic, ranging from the neuroendocrinology of spatial memory to decomposing neurocognitive mechanisms of mindfulness practices with respect to clinical depression outcomes. In general, I am interested in studying how the plasticity of the brain can be leveraged to better understand and guide adpative changes in behavior.
Dismantling Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Creation and validation of 8-week Focused Attention and Open Monitoring interventions within a 3-armed randomized controlled trial
Behaviour and Research Therapy, 101, 92-107.
N/A
2018
- Britton, W.B., Davis, J., Loucks, E.B., Peterson, B., Cullen, B., Reuter, L., Rando, A., Rahrig, H., Lipsky, J. & Lindahl, J. (2018).
Comparing embodiment experiences in expert meditators and non-meditators
Consciousness and Cognition, 65, 325-333.
N/A
2018
- Xu, A., Cullen, B., Penner, C., Zimmerman, C., Kerr, C.E., & Schmalzl, L. (2018)
Dose-dependent effects of testosterone on spatial memory in adult male rats
Psychoneuroendocrinology, 89, 120-130.
N/A
2018
- Wagner, B., Braddick, V. Batson, C., Cullen, B., Miller, E. & Spritzer, M. (2018).
Pre-prints & Works in Progress
The contributions of focused attention and open monitoring in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: a 3-armed randomized dismantling trial
Under review
N/A
2020
- Cullen, B., Eichel, K., Lindahl, J., Rahrig, H., Kini, N., Flahive, J. & Britton, W.B.
Neural correlates of emotion reactivity and emotion regulation in women with borderline personality disorder: A replication of the literature with novel extensions
In prep
N/A
2020
- Lewis, J., Cullen, B., Giuliani, N., & Zalewski, M.
Comparing cognitive and affective predictors of craving
Pre-print
N/A
2019
- Cullen, B., DeStasio, K., Cosme, D., & Berkman, E.T.
Selected Poster Presentations
Cognitive versus affective predictors of craving
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Portland, OR
2019
- Cullen, B., DeStasio, K., Cosme, D., & Berkman, E.T. (2019)
Personalized stop-signal training to improve inhibitory control among adults who experienced early adversity
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Portland, OR
2019
- DeStasio, K., Cullen, B., Shaffer, K., & Berkman, E.T. (2019)
Teacher effects in a school-based mindfulness intervention
Mind and Life Summer Research Institute
Garrison, NY
2017
- Cullen, B., Canby, N., & Britton, W. B.
Sustained Attention in Focused Attention versus Open Monitoring Meditation: Behavioral and Neurophysiological Changes
29th Association for Psychological
Science Annual Convention
Boston, MA
2017
- Eichel, K., Essien, G., Cullen, B., Rogers, A. & Britton, W.B.
Dose-dependent effects of testosterone on spatial memory in young and adult male rats
International Meeting for Steroids and the
Nervous System
Turin, Italy
2017
- Spritzer, M.D., Batson, C.G., Braddick, V.C., Chyr, C.U., Cullen, B., Goins, E.C., Jaeger, E.C.B., Miller, L.E., Super, C., & Wagner, B.A.
An open-source system for EEG neurofeedback and transcranial current stimulation control: Applications for meditation research
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies,
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
San Diego, CA
2016
- Cullen, B., Santoyo, J., Black, C., McFarlane-Blake, C. & Kerr, C.
A Neurofeedback Informed Meditation Technique (NIMT) for modulating posterior cingulate cortex activity: Proof-of concept for a novel mental-training paradigm with clinical applications
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies,
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
San Diego, CA
2016
- Santoyo, J., Cullen, B., & Kerr, C.
Neurophysiological correlates of self-referential activity in meditators and non-meditators
Mind and Life Summer Research Institute
Garrison, NY
2015
- Cullen, B., Bruns, M., Paritsky, A., McGuirk, E., Ogle, T., Kimble, M., & Cronise, K.
Neurophysiological correlates of self-referential activity in meditators and non-meditators
Advances in Meditation Research
New York, NY
2015
- Cullen, B., Bruns, M., Paritsky, A., McGuirk, E., Ogle, T., Kimble, M., & Cronise, K.
Effects of testosterone dose on spatial memory in adult male rats
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
Washington, D.C.
2014
- Cullen, B., Spritzer, M., Batson, C., Spillane, S., & Wagner, B.
Talks
Predicting diabetes status from personality using machine learning
useR! 2020 (canceled)
St. Louis, MO
2020
- Cullen, B., Weston, S., & Condon, D.
Dismantling effects of focused attention and open monitoring techniques in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for affective disturbances
Annual Meeting and Expo of the American
Public Health Association
Atlanta, GA
2017
- Chang, B., Cullen, B., Kini, N., Rahrig, H., & Britton, W.
Movement, embodiment and interoception in the context of contemplative practices (Panel)
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies
San Diego, CA
2016
- Schmalzl, L., Powers, C., Yetz, N., Groessl, EJ., Saron, C., Kerr, C., Zimmerman, C., Cullen, B., Clark, D., Mostofsky, SH., Feinstein, J., Khalsa, S., Simmons, K., & Paulus, M.
Effects of focused attention and open monitoring meditation on sustained attention
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies
San Diego, CA
2016
- Eichel, K., Cullen, B., & Britton, W.
Additional Training
RStudio Instructor Training
RStudio, PBC
Remote
2020
- Two-day intensive training on applying modern evidence-based teaching practices to teach data science using R and RStudio’s products.
Introduction to Machine Learning with the Tidyverse
rstudio::conf(2020)
San Francisco, CA
2020
- Two-day workshop on machine learning with tidymodels taught by Alison Hill. Topics covered included prediction, classification, sampling & resampling, ensembling, workflows, recipes, cross-validation and model tuning.
Service & Leadership
Co-organizer
Eugene, OR
2020
- Updated website, designed new hex sticker, secured additional sponsors
Co-organizer
Eugene, OR
2018
- Co-organized a two-day Brainhack event hosted at the University of Oregon for collaborative software development projects related to computational neuroscience and psychology
Science communication ambassador
Eugene, OR
2018
- Trained to be a coach to assist people with communicating their scientific work to the general public
Lab Tour Guide
Intel Science Fair
Eugene, OR
2018
- Gave a presentation for middle- and high-school students as part of a science outreach event during the regional Intel Science Fair in Eugene
- Gave students a tour of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Lab and hosted a Q&A session about scientific careers
Co-organizer
Mindfulness, Healing and Empathy in Healthcare Speaker Series,
Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University
Providence, RI
2016
- Coordinated with guest speakers for a 6-part lecture series for Brown University medical students and community members
- Created a website to advertise the public talks and to provide community members with information about mindfulness resources